Govt notifies Euro VI emission standards; green body lauds move

For the first time, particulate matter standard has been adopted for two and three-wheelers, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said, adding the biggest benefit will be in addressing toxic emission from diesel vehicles.PTI | September 20, 2016, 08:33 IST

NEW DELHI: Lauding the Centre's move to notify implementation of Euro VI (Bharat Stage VI) emission standards for all vehicles from 2020, a green body today said it will help reduce pollution caused by motorisation.

For the first time, particulate matter standard has been adopted for two and three-wheelers, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said, adding the biggest benefit will be in addressing toxic emission from diesel vehicles.

This is a significant move forward as given the sheer numbers of two-wheelers, their contribution to particulate load in cities tend to be high, it said.

"Emission benefits from this move will be significant. In case of cars, the particulate matter (PM) norm will reduce by 82 per cent and nitrogen oxide (NOx) by 68 per cent.

"PM and NOx emissions from two-wheelers will reduce by 89 per cent and 76 per cent respectively, while from trucks and buses these will drop by 50 per cent and 89 per cent respectively," CSE said.

This is a game-changer decision and will help India leapfrog to much cleaner emission. The country has taken lead among developing countries in this step, the green body said.

"This will reduce time lag with Europe to six years in 2020 and lower the pollution impacts of the new vehicle fleet considerably. This is a much needed step to cut the toxic risk in all our cities and towns," CSE executive director Anumita Roychowdhury said.

The number of vehicles that the country will add in the next decade is more than twice its current stock of vehicles.

To ensure strict compliance of BS VI emission norms from April 2020 "at least 50 per cent of vehicle models produced from a particular plant shall be selected randomly from dealers location or warehouse," Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in a notification.

This will be done under a process known as conformity of production (COP), it said.

From April 2020, on-road emissions measurements will be carried out with the help of portable emissions monitoring systems, while from 2023 onwards, in-service conformity factor will be applied to ensure that emissions from vehicles remain within the stated margin, CSE said.

"This will help prevent emissions cheating as was done by Volkswagen. This will also ensure that vehicles do not emit more than they are designed to on roads. However, advanced on-board diagnostic system has been delayed until 2023," the green body said.